


King's Table

by garafthel (sister_wolf)



Series: The Fox's Tale [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Female Bilbo, Female Dori (Tolkien), Female Nori (Tolkien), Female Ori (Tolkien), Nori/OFC (past) - Freeform, Rough Sex, Size Kink, original characters all over the place, waves cheerfully at canon as it wanders past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-09
Updated: 2013-10-24
Packaged: 2017-12-26 04:06:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/961377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sister_wolf/pseuds/garafthel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight months after the end of Foxes and Geese, Nori and Dwalin are finally getting married.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Why did I agree to this when Dori suggested it?" Nori asked, tugging restlessly at the collar of her new leather jerkin. The color matched the one that Lady Dis had given her in Ered Luin, dark Durin blue with highlights of silver. It had been ordered from the finest armorer in Dracahafen, and though the fit was excellent, the leather needed a little more time and wear in order to become perfectly molded to the shape of her body. Right now it was a little stiff. 

"Because you didn't want to do it?" Dwalin suggested. "And because you said she'd end up running the whole thing anyway, so you might as well stick her with all the work from the start."

"Right, I remember now. That was a terrible idea."

Dwalin snorted at her. He was also dressed in his new jerkin, the dark green leather an exact match for the travel-worn and battle-scarred armor he'd worn since leaving Ered Luin. The warg bite that had nearly taken his arm had left such enormous rents in his old jerkin that it would have been a complete loss even if Lady Dis hadn't had to cut him out of it.

His collarbone and arm were almost completely healed now, eight months after the battle, but he still wore the sling whenever he pushed himself too hard in training. He had flat-out refused to wear the sling today, but because it was going to be a long day (and night) he was currently resting his arm by lying on their bed with bolsters supporting his arm in a comfortable position.

She crawled onto the bed, careful not to jar his arm, and curled up on her side with her head resting on his uninjured shoulder. "Can we just skip the whole thing? I mean, we can get married on the battlefield any time we want. We can go find a few Orcs, start a little trouble, say the words, and boom, we're married."

He chuckled. "I think that your sister would kill us if we messed up her schedule."

Nori wrinkled her nose. "I guess you're right. The last time I saw her office, the plan for today had covered an entire wall. She had it color-coded, Dwalin. Color-coded."

"Also, the Prince Consort is looking a little white-knuckled these days. I'm afraid if you add one more bit of stress, he's going to snap and then..." He made a whooshing noise.

"Right. And you don't want to piss off someone who can turn you into ash, just like _that_." She snapped her fingers.

"He might turn _me_ into ash, but never you. You know you're his favorite."

"Yeah, I guess," she said, trying to hide a grin. 

When the suggestion had been broached that Nori should become the King's Thief, the Prince Consort had objected strenuously. Something about a spy two thousand years ago that Thranduil claimed Thorin had gotten killed. He said he didn't trust Thorin with Nori's life, so she was made the Prince Consort's Thief instead. Her official title was the Prince Consort's Hand. Privately she thought that was a little over the top, but Thranduil always did tend toward the overly dramatic.

Thorin had been _so_ annoyed by the whole thing. Not-so-secretly, Nori was perfectly fine with how things had turned out. She had accepted Thorin as her King but Thranduil would always be her favorite, despite the possibility of being turned into ash if someday he snapped and lost control of his form.

It did add a certain amount of much-needed spice to Council meetings.

There was a knock on the door. "Nori, Dwalin! Please tell me you're decent," Ori called through the door.

"I'm never decent," Nori called back. "But I am dressed. You may enter."

Amusingly enough, Ori waited instead of opening the door herself. Nori snorted with laughter as she opened the door. "What, did you think we'd be naked or something?"

"It's always best not to assume with you two," Ori said primly. "Dori sent me to fetch you. She wants you two waiting nearer to the temple."

"All right, can't keep the Royal Seneschal waiting I guess." Nori rolled her eyes. Being named Seneschal had completely gone to Dori's head. "But give us a few minutes. We've still got to do the exchange of gifts."

"Dori isn't going to be happy if you mess up her timetable."

"Dori isn't the one getting married today, is she? We'll be along in a few. Go tell her to loosen her braids a little."

Ori gave her a disbelieving look. " _You_ can go tell her that. Don't take too long." With that, Nori and Dwalin were left alone.

"You still sure that you don't want to sneak off and get married on a battlefield somewhere?" Nori asked.

Dwalin chuckled. "I'm sure, lass. We'd disappoint more people than just your older sister if we ran off now."

"All right, fine. So, presents?" she said hopefully. 

He adored the acquisitive gleam she got whenever there was the possibility of gifts or rewards in her immediate future. He adored everything about her, of course, but the way she lit up at the thought of _presents_ was particularly endearing. 

Standing, Dwalin retrieved the narrow wooden box, carved intricately and inlaid with gold and jade accents, from the shelf he'd placed it on a few weeks earlier. He hadn't bothered with the farce of trying to hide something from a master thief in her own home. When he turned back around, he found Nori holding a large paper-wrapped package. He hadn't noticed the package anywhere in the house and had absolutely no idea where she had hidden it.

"Open yours first," she urged, handing him the package.

The paper had been stamped by hand with the symbols for fortune, happiness, and marriage. Inside he found a leather weapons harness, the same design as his normal harness but in richly embossed leather. The circle that would sit at the center of his chest was gold.

He lifted the harness up, examining the embossing and finding that it consisted of a repeating pattern of stylized badgers and crossed knives. He traced the lines of Nori's maker's mark hidden inside the harness. "Nori," he said, honestly getting a little choked up. "This is beautiful work." 

Nori looked proud. "It'll stand up to a beating, too. The leather straps are all double-layered and the circle is gold over a mithril core." She helped him to unbuckle his battle-scarred weapons harness and put the new one on, transferring Grasper and Keeper to their new fittings. 

It was a perfect fit. He smoothed his hands over the leather, feeling the embossing with his fingertips. "This is master-level leatherworking, my jewel. I wish I'd been able to make yours, but..." He sighed, lifting his injured shoulder a little. "Not that I was a master smith even before the arm injury." 

She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him quickly. "I'm just glad you can still _use_ your arm, my badger. All right, my turn now," she said cheerfully, rubbing her hands together in anticipation before opening her gift. Her breath caught at the sight of what lay inside the carved box. "Oh, Dwalin. These are gorgeous." 

Within the box were a set of long daggers on a bed of crushed velvet. Dwalin wasn't a master smith, but with his part of the gold awarded to the Company from Dracadelf's treasury he could afford to hire one to make his wedding gift. Dwarves were practical people at heart; it was much more important that the gifts were of high quality than whether the betrothed couple made the gifts themselves.

Nori pulled one of the daggers out and unsheathed it, examining the blade closely and then testing the balance. She sheathed the dagger and turned the sheath over, her eyebrows going up. "Is this what I think it is?"

Dwalin smiled. "I had the sheaths made specifically to fit your weapons belt."

Nori deftly unbuckled her weapons belt and swapped out the long daggers strapped to her thighs for the new ones. She unsheathed and sheathed them again a couple of times in quick succession, smiling. Sheathing the daggers again, she turned to Dwalin and said, "Brace yourself and hold your bad arm out of the way."

He did as she had ordered and so was prepared enough to barely even stagger when she threw her arms around his neck and jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist. "I love them," she said, beaming at him. "And I fucking love you."

Dwalin used his good arm to help support her weight (not really necessary, but it gave him a good excuse to grope her ass.) He wound the ends of her braided hair around the fingers of his other hand. "I love you too, Nori."

Her smile lit up her eyes. "Did you think we'd ever get this far when we met a year ago?"

"Well, you did force me to get engaged to you under false pretences and at the time I thought your name was Nezhka, so it's safe to say that no, I never saw this coming," he teased her.

Nori made a face at him, then kissed him quickly and slid out of his arms. "I wouldn't have followed through with that, I told you. I was going to release you from your oath before supposedly returning to the Orocarni Mountains."

"You might have found that more difficult than you expected, lass," he said as he caught her hand in his and kissed her palm. "I wasn't planning on letting you leave me behind."

"Why?" she asked quietly. "I've never understood why you were so insistent on staying tied to me, even when you found out that I lied to you from the beginning."

Meeting her changeable hazel eyes, he held her hand between both of his as he said, "I could say that I fell in love with you at first sight and that would be true, but not the whole truth. It was also the way you talked, the sense of humor that you never quite managed to hide, the--" he paused and then continued, resigned. "Much though I hate to admit it, it was also the way you smelled."

"It was love at first sniff?" she asked, starting to grin. "You realize that I am never going to let that go."

Dwalin sighed. He knew that she'd take that and run with it. "So long as that means that you're never going to let _me_ go."

She sobered, but her eyes were still smiling as she said, "Never, ever letting you go."

"And I'll never let you go. Though... I have to warn you, I'm not exactly an unflawed gem myself," he said. "I'm almost seventy years older than you and I'm never going to be the warrior I was before the warg bite. And, well. You already know that I can be quick to anger and jealousy."

"Sit down," she said, jerking her head at the edge of the bed. Bemused, Dwalin did as she ordered and soon found himself with a lapful of Nori, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Listen to me," she said. "I do not care one whit about your age and you were mauled saving my life on the battlefield. As for the rest, we've dealt with it before and if need be we'll deal with it again. Agreed, my grumpy badger?"

"Agreed. My treasure of treasures. My thief."

They fell back on the bed, kissing and groping. Nori's jerkin was completely off and Dwalin's new weapons harness was well on its way to being unbuckled when a sharp rapping came at the door.

"If I have to come in there and separate the two of you, you will be very sorry," Dori called through the door.

"Mahal damn it," Nori groaned. "She has the worst timing. We're coming!" she yelled, rolling off of Dwalin and grabbing her jerkin from where it had been flung to the side.

"We'll just have to hold that thought for later," Dwalin said, re-adjusting his weapons harness.

"Right," she grinned. "We still have to go through the waters of rebirth."

He choked. "We can't fuck in the sacred spring!"

"Why not?" Nori asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked up from re-fastening the buckles of her jerkin. "I'm sure Mahal wouldn't mind. He's seen worse."

"You know what, we can fuck in some _other_ hot spring. One that isn't sacred to the Valar of making things, whose wife just happens to be the Valar of fertility," Dwalin added with a meaningful glance at her stomach.

"Ugh," she said, wrinkling her nose. Head bent pensively, she straightened her jerkin and then said, "All right, last chance to back out if you want a wife who can have children, or would even want children, isn't a thief, or is even a little bit respectable--"

"Nori," Dwalin said, catching her hands in his. Meeting her eyes and hoping that she would see the sincerity in his, he said, "I don't want anyone who isn't you, and that's all part of who you are. I'm going to keep telling you that until you believe it."

She smiled faintly, still looking worried. "Well, in a little under an hour it's going to be too late to back out, so I guess I'll have to believe you."

"I'm opening this door in five seconds," Dori called through the door. "I don't care if you're naked as the day Mahal made you."

Nori rolled her eyes, yanking open the door. "We're not fucking."

"Good. There isn't space for that in my timetable." Dori swept into the bedroom, looking absolutely regal in deep purple edged with silver. Her hair had been put up into braids even more elaborate than the ones she wore every day, which Nori thought were already pretty excessive. The square bodice and high waist of her dress did not do anything to disguise exactly how pregnant she was.

Dori made an exasperated face upon seeing Nori. "I thought you were going to do your hair the way we had discussed."

"I like my three-peaked style." Nori scowled, crossing her arms. "Besides, it'll all come out before the waters of reforging."

Dori huffed loudly. "Fine. It's too late to fix it now. Come on, everyone is waiting in the temple."

The temple was a long walk down increasingly dark and cramped stairs that wended their way down deep into the roots of the mountain. Nori wasn't looking forward to the walk back up. This wasn't the main temple used for services, which was large enough to accommodate a fair percentage of the mountain's inhabitants at a time. No, this temple was only large enough to fit a couple of dozen Dwarves, traditionally the close family members of both Dwarves being married, though the definition of "family" could and did include shieldmates and close friends. 

In this case, it included all the members of the Company except for Bell, who even Ori had reluctantly agreed couldn't attend a ceremony given in a language she was forbidden to learn, plus Dwalin's cousins newly arrived from Ered Luin, Gloin and his wife Kolfina, their child Gimli, and Gloin's brother Oin.

Dori led them to the entrance of the temple and gestured in Iglishmiek, _Wait for the signal_ , then disappeared inside.

Nori murmured very quietly, "We can still make a break for it. There's gotta be a battlefield somewhere."

"We've faced down an army of orcs and wargs. I think we can handle getting married," Dwalin chuckled, sliding his good arm around Nori's shoulders. She sighed and leaned against him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

Together, they waited for the signal.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I continue to fold and spindle Tolkien's lore with regards to Durin, the origin of the Longbeards, and Dwarven marriage customs.

The chanting from within the temple started almost too quietly to hear, slowly growing in volume as the gathered Dwarves recited the tale of Durin wandering the wilds alone after the waking of the first Dwarves. 

The other six mothers and fathers of the Dwarven race had awakened together. Only the First Father, Durin, was left to wander through the wilds alone. At last he came to the lake of Kheled-zâram and stood in wonder, watching as the reflection of a crown of stars glimmered on the dark water. Standing on the shore of Kheled-zâram, Durin announced that he would build a city there and call it Khazad-dûm.

A single bell was rung at that point in the chant. In the hushed pause that followed, Nori turned to kiss Dwalin for luck, meeting his eyes and smiling. Then they walked into the temple together as the chant resumed. 

After Durin announced his intention of building a city, a laughing voice came to him from somewhere in the darkness. "And who do you plan to people this city with? You are but one Dwarf alone." (Nori had always appreciated that the very first thing the First Mother of the Dwarves did upon meeting Durin was to criticize his shitty plan.) They argued for a long time, but eventually they fell in love and decided to build the city together for their children.

As Nori and Dwalin walked slowly up the winding path to the heart of the temple, the chant continued telling the story of the founding of Khazad-dûm and the birth of the Longbeard clan. Once it got into the boring genealogical details, Nori tuned it out.

The temple was as close to unworked as it could be and still be usable. Stalactites and stalagmites protruded from the ceiling and floor of the cave. The small crowd stood at the very edge of a small underground lake where there was a relatively flat pebble beach. The cave was lit with some of the eerie blue lights that the inhabitants of Dracadelf had been so very fond of using. 

The crowd parted as Nori and Dwalin walked through. Thorin stood at the very edge of the lake facing them, standing behind a stalagmite that had been flattened off at waist height. On top of it rested an intricately carved ceremonial anvil.

They came to a stop in front of Thorin just as the chant ended and the bell sounded again.

"We stand in the heart of the mountain, in a place sacred to Mahal our Creator," Thorin said in a voice loud enough to be heard at the back of the crowd. "Nori, daughter of Kori, and Dwalin, son of Fundin, today you will be reforged by the fires of Mahal into a tool that is stronger than either of you alone. As tradition dictates, you have come here bearing a gift from your intended. This gift represents something meaningful to both of you and will be of great use as you begin your journey together.

"Nori and Dwalin, please place your hands on the anvil and speak your Oath of Marriage."

The wording of the Marriage Oath had been so ingrained into her memory, during the months of practicing under Dori's gimlet eye, that Nori's mind wandered as she and Dwalin spoke in unison. 

She found herself wondering what would have happened if Dwalin had not been the guardsman who almost caught her that day in the market, which had been the incident that led to all of the shenanigans with their forced betrothal. She supposed if they hadn't met that day, they would have met each other later. She was sure Grimr would have found some way to bring the map and key to Thorin's attention. 

But if Dwalin hadn't been with her when the Mithril Hand had attacked her in the market, would she have had the opportunity to discover that the mysterious scarred woman knew who she was, therefore realizing that Dori and Ori were in danger? And if Ingrith had succeeded in her plan and taken back the map and key from Grimr and Nori one way or another, would Grimr have been able to convince Thorin to journey halfway across Middle Earth to the White Mountains without even a map to guide them? Would Nori and Dwalin have met once and then never crossed paths again?

Nori met Dwalin's eyes as they stood facing each other across the anvil. His face was utterly serious, as befitted the occasion, but his eyes crinkled with a hidden smile as he met her eyes while speaking the words of the oath.

It would have worked out somehow, Nori thought. After all, he was a guardsman and she was a thief--if nothing else, eventually he would have tried to arrest her for something else. And knowing Dwalin, he would have chased her around Ered Luin until she finally caught him. 

Love at first sniff, after all. 

Nori damned near busted out laughing in the middle of her own wedding ceremony at that thought. She controlled the urge, focusing on what they were saying just as she and Dwalin finished reciting the final clause, "For as long as you will have me."

"I, Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain, hereby witness your Oath as spoken before your families and shieldmates. You are as one tool now, forged together by Mahal himself. You must be quenched and tempered in the waters of the mountain, naked just as the Seven Mothers and Seven Fathers of the Dwarves were drawn from the stone."

At that, Balin and Dori came forward to help them remove their weapons and gear, unfasten their braids, and strip to the skin. Naked, Nori and Dwalin stood calmly before their gathered families and friends. There was nothing inherently shameful in the nude body. Mahal had created the Dwarves naked, after all.

"Nori and Dwalin, join hands and step into the waters of reforging. You will be quenched and tempered as you are made into a new metal, stronger than you were before."

Nori was careful not to wince or flinch as she walked into the cold, cold water, feeling her skin goosebump as she stepped down the gentle pebble slope and felt the water creeping up her thighs. She almost flinched at the feeling of the cold water lapping against the lips of her cunt, but she bit her lip and managed to control it. She had to stifle an inappropriate giggle at the barely audible hiss she heard from Dwalin as the icy water reached his bollocks and cock.

They walked in until they were covered to their necks and then waited, trying not to shiver, until the bell sounded again, signaling that they could walk back out of the water. Standing on the shore feeling icy water dripping out of her hair, Nori kept from fidgeting with an effort as Thorin seemed to take forever to say the last few ceremonial phrases that introduced them to the community as spouses. 

Still holding hands, Nori and Dwalin bowed to Thorin, then turned and bowed to the crowd. Nori spotted Dori wiping tears away from her eyes as the crowd returned the bow. 

The gathered Dwarves turned as one and filed out of the temple, leaving only Nori, Dwalin, Dori, and Balin. As soon as the crowd was gone, Dori and Balin wrapped thick woolen robes around their shoulders.

Shivering and clutching the robe, Nori muttered, "Mahal's enormous--"

"Nori!" Dori hissed.

"--hammer. Why, what did you think I was going to say, sister?" Nori blinked innocently at her.

Dori rolled her eyes. "You know very well. Come along, let's get you to the waters of rebirth. Your lips are turning blue."

The hot springs were attached to the temple by a narrow, private passage. Carrying their clothing and weapons, Balin and Dori accompanied them to the entrance of the cave that held the sacred springs. Only the newly married couple were allowed to enter. 

They paused together, standing outside the entrance to the cave. Nori faked a scowl at her sister. "You couldn't have warned me exactly how cold that lake is ahead of time?"

Dori snorted. "Would knowing ahead of time have helped at all?"

"I guess not." Nori held the scowl for a second longer and then let it drop, smiling widely as she hugged Dori. "Thank you for standing as my second. And thank you for dealing with all of this... wedding nonsense."

"You're welcome, little sister. Besides, I know if I'd left this to you, you'd have gotten married on a battlefield somewhere just to avoid having to organize it."

Nori coughed. "What? I don't know what you're talking about."

Dori laughed and the two of them hugged again quickly before Dori stepped back. "Don't take too long in the waters of rebirth. The feast can't start until you two get there. I've seen a wedding feast descend into a near-riot when the couple takes too long to appear."

"My money's on Bofur, Bombur, and Bifur, if you're taking bets." She grinned and waved at Dori's parting look of exasperation.

"Hot springs, hot springs, hot springs," Nori chanted, darting inside the cave and straight for the steaming water. She barely paused to drop her robe on the ground before stepping into the hot water, hissing under her breath with pleasure at the heat. She had submerged herself to the neck before noticing that Dwalin was still standing just inside the cave entrance, still clad in his robe. "What are you waiting for?"

"Enjoying the view, lass," he said. 

She snorted and kicked a foot out of the water, gesturing with it as she said, "Get naked and get in here."

The cave that held the waters of rebirth had been altered from its natural state much more than the temple. Low steps had been cut into the rock leading down into the spring. The room was dimly lit by a few of the blue lights, supplemented by candles. Dwalin sighed in contentment as he settled down on a step that left him covered to mid-chest. Nori, sitting next to him, was covered to her neck. They soaked for a while in silence while leaning against each other with his arm around her shoulders.

Finally she heaved a sigh. "I don't ever want to leave here."

"All right. Though we would miss the feast," he pointed out.

She perked up. "Ooh, good point. I want to know what it is that Bombur's had the entire kitchen working on all week. He actually told his apprentices to bar me from the kitchen, can you believe it?"

"And you let that stop you?"

"Well, I actually did want it to be a surprise. Trying and really obviously failing to sneak into the kitchen was just part of the fun," she grinned. "I do like surprises when they're pleasant ones. I didn't sneak a peek at your gift either, if you were wondering."

"Ah, my treasure of treasures," he said, kissing her hair (the easiest part of her to reach at the moment.) "I wouldn't have minded if you had, but I'm touched that you didn't."

She tilted her head up so that they could kiss, though the angle was a little awkward. After several more minutes of soaking, she sighed and said, "I suppose we should get moving. Everyone is waiting for us."

"Aye. And they've nothing to eat but each other."

Nori snorted with laughter. "I don't know if I should put my money on Bombur or the Prince Consort, in that case." They always used Thranduil's title or his false name, even when they were in perfect privacy, so that there was no chance that his real name would ever slip out accidentally. There were times when she almost forgot that his name wasn't really Gwethael.

"Tough call. One of them could eat a hungry bear... and the other one is a dragon." They both chuckled. More seriously, Dwalin asked, "Can I braid your hair?"

"You can braid my hair any time that you want," she said with a friendly leer.

They had to get out of the hot springs for that, wrapping themselves in the robes again to protect against the relatively cooler air of the cave. Nori sat down on a stone bench and Dwalin stood behind her, pulling a wide-toothed comb through her long, wet hair.

Nori relaxed into the soothing sensation of having someone else brush her hair. It had been a very long time since anyone else had regularly brushed her hair. Not since Sigrun, actually. She found herself wondering what Sigrun must think of this all as she watched from the Halls of Waiting. 

She and Sigrun had never spoken of marriage, too focused on the present to ever think of the future beyond the next job. She thought that Sigrun would approve of Dwalin, even though he was a guardsman at heart. He had saved Nori's life by stepping into the charging warg and gutting it even as it crushed his shoulder in its jaws. He could easily have died almost exactly the same way as Sigrun had twenty-five years earlier, if the warg's teeth had hit just a few inches higher and cut his throat. Every time she saw the livid scars stretching across his shoulder and arm, her breath caught in her throat as she thought about what might have been.

Shivering, Nori forced herself to focus back on the here and now. "I think Sigrun would approve of you."

The slow rhythm of Dwalin's strokes with the comb faltered. "Even though I married her..."

"Lover?" Nori supplied when he seemed to fumble for a word. "We never made any promises to each other. And even if we had, marriage oaths do not reach past death. No, she wouldn't be upset that I married you. More likely she'd yell at me about mourning her for so long."

"Really?" Dwalin started separating her hair out for braids.

"Sigrun was a very practical person. I can just imagine her scolding me that not opening my legs for so long that there's practically ivy growing over my cunt does her no good in the Halls of Waiting and only serves to make me grumpy." Nori laughed, feeling pleased that Dwalin started chuckling too.

"Tell me about her."

"You're sure?"

"Sigrun was important to you. I want to know about her."

So Nori told him stories of their youthful misadventures in Ered Luin, embellishing only a little the tales of brilliant scams falling apart at the last minute and simple heists gone completely sideways. He laughed at the funny parts and sucked in his breath at the near-misses and minor catastrophes. 

She hadn't even begun to run out of tales by the time he was done braiding her hair. She wrapped up the latest story, the incident with the drunk, naked, singing nobleman in the back of a pony cart. Dwalin doubled over with laughter at the end. Nori grinned, saying, "There's more stories where that came from."

Dwalin knelt in front of Nori, taking her hands in his. "Thank you for telling me about her."

She felt herself get unexpectedly damp-eyed. "It felt good telling you about her. Like you two know each other now. Ridiculous, I suppose."

He shook his head. "Not at all." 

His eyes very intent, Dwalin reached behind her right ear and pulled forward a small section of hair that he had left loose from her braid. Nori sat still, her heart thumping in her chest a little as she realized he was working on her marriage braid. She hadn't expected it to mean that much to her--it was so old-fashioned, not something she had ever thought that she wanted--but she found then, watching Dwalin's clear blue eyes as he concentrated on his work, that it actually meant a lot to her.

He finished braiding and reached for his pocket, then cursed under his breath as he realized he was wearing a robe. "Mahal's pendulous... hammer. Hold on to this, would you?"

Nori held on to the end of the braid, laughing silently as Dwalin tore through his pile of clothing until he found what he'd been looking for. She composed her face appropriately as he returned. Kneeling in front of her again, he shook his head, saying, "I know you're laughing at me, Nori. You're not that subtle." She grinned and shrugged.

Dwalin very carefully threaded a carved bead onto the end of her marriage braid, checking to make sure that it held solidly in her hair. After he was done, she lifted the braid to get a closer look at the bead.

The bead was eight-sided, narrow, and about an inch long. It was carved with a pattern of what looked like simple crossed lines until you looked very closely and realized that they were crossed knives. There was a single star at the bottom of every side except for one. 

"Seven stars for the line of Durin?" she asked. He nodded. "Oh, Dwalin. I love it," she said, sliding off the bench and landing straddling his legs. They got distracted for a while, kissing slowly and passionately. 

They stopped kissing before they got completely carried away, leaning their foreheads together and panting. Nori noticed that Dwalin had her marriage braid wrapped around two of his fingers. It was strangely touching and yet sexy at the same time. "Your turn," she said, opening up one of her hands and flashing a bead at him.

"Have you had that bead palmed this entire time?" he asked incredulously.

"Thief," she said, shrugging and pointing at herself. "Keeping something that small palmed is child's play." Dwalin reached out his hand and she dropped the carved, cylindrical bead into his palm. 

He held the bead up close to his eyes, examining the carvings with fascination. "It's the mountains and the valley, with the river running through it... but the mountain becomes part of the fox's tail on the other side and the river turns into one of the badger's stripes. This is beautiful."

Nori ducked her head, feeling embarrassed by the praise but unsure why. Maybe it was because the weapons harness was something practical and the marriage bead was meant only to express their love for each other. Unlike the wedding gifts, the marriage beads were traditionally made by the new spouses for each other even if they weren't all that great at carving. That kind of small detail work wasn't Dwalin's greatest strength, but she treasured his bead as much as if it had been a masterpiece. Dwalin appeared to feel the same about hers.

All that went through her head in the moment it took her to say, "I'm glad you like it."

"Like it? Nori, lass, I love it," he said, sweeping her into a kiss that threatened to make them both very late to their wedding feast.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sincere apologies for the long delay. I had a really terrible bout of writer's block for about a month. But the story is back on track and will be four chapters instead of three.
> 
> Khuzdul used: _mizimith_ , young jewel; _namadith_ , little sister.

Dori and Balin were waiting for them outside the doors to the feast hall. "There you are! Finally," Dori scolded. "I really did think that we were going to have a riot on our hands."

"Sorry," Nori said, not sorry at all. 

Her older sister rolled her eyes. "At least I didn't have to go fetch you from the sacred spring. Don't think I wouldn't have."

Nori coughed. "Ah. I think we're all happier that wasn't necessary." 

Balin looked quietly amused while Dori just sighed in exasperation.

They hadn't actually _fucked_ in the sacred spring... but Dwalin had kissed his way down her body to her nipples and spent some time worshipping them with his mouth while lazily rubbing her pearl with his thumb. They had only barely managed to tear themselves away and drag their clothing back on because if they kept going they were going to miss their wedding feast entirely.

It had been a near thing, but they'd made it all the way up the stairs to the public levels of the city without tearing each other's clothing off. Nori wasn't sure how long they were going to last through the feast, however.

With a final fussy straightening of Nori's jerkin, Dori turned to the pages standing by the double doors to the feast hall. She signaled them to open it and then Dori and Balin strode into the feast hall side by side, announcing in unison, "We present to the community Nori, spouse of Dwalin and Dwalin, spouse of Nori!"

The crowded tables and benches full of Dwarves stood and cheered, some of them climbing up on the tables to get a better vantage point. With the background of joyous, rowdy shouting, Nori and Dwalin walked up the center aisle of the feast hall between the parallel tables to the table set on a low dais at the end of the hall. There all the members of the Company, Dwalin's cousins, and Thegn Ingrith stood cheering and shouting. Even the little Hobbit Bell had climbed up on the table, waving her hands in the air and cheering. 

Only the three Elves at the table, the Prince Regent and the two newly arrived emissaries from Mirkwood, Legolas and Tauriel, remained seated. Thranduil looked impassive, no doubt accustomed to such things from his time ruling Dracadelf two thousand years ago. Legolas's eyes were narrowed like a displeased cat. Tauriel on the other hand was beaming like this was the most exciting thing she'd ever seen.

Dwalin and Nori's seats were at the center of the table facing the feast hall, with Thranduil and Thorin to their right and Balin and Dori to their left, then the rest of the Company to either side.

They followed Dori and Balin up to the dais and stood behind their seats as the cheering rose to a thundering crescendo. Thorin raised his hands and the shouting eventually died down. "My friends, subjects, and honored guests, we feast in honor of the new couple, Nori and Dwalin. May their blades never dull and their love never weaken, and may every day bring to them the blessings of Mahal. Now, let the feast begin!"

The cheering at that pronouncement was an almost visible blast of noise. Nori added her shout to the chaos, grinning as she heard Dwalin's deep voice bellowing beside her.

An army of pages and servants brought out plate after plate of food and cask after cask of mead and ale. The noise level dropped and leveled out as the wedding feast guests applied themselves to the serious business of eating and drinking.

Thranduil leaned past Thorin and said something in the slippery Elvish language to Nori. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Prince Consort, you know very well that the only Elvish I know is a few useful insults."

Nori knew him well enough to read the raised eyebrow and barely there curve to his mouth as amusement. "Indeed. I am simply offering you a blessing in my own tongue. It translates roughly to "may the sun and moon always light your path.""

"Hmm. In my profession, I've found that moonless nights are a bit more useful, but you have my thanks for the blessing nevertheless."

Thranduil inclined his head smoothly. "One of these days you will have to tell me where you learned insults in Sindarin. And such colorful ones, at that."

"I'm a mystery," Nori said, laughing at his annoyed look. Thorin picked up Thranduil's hand from where it rested on the table and stroked his fingertips lightly over the Elf's palm, effectively distracting him from his annoyance.

"A toast to the new couple!" someone shouted from further down the table. It sounded like Bofur. Nori laughed as she heard Dwalin groan under his breath. 

A string of toasts followed, as members of the Company drank to Nori and Dwalin's health, longevity, fierceness in battle, and stamina in bed. Every toast demanded a full mug of ale to be downed, so by the time that the toasts reached the ridiculous point of toasting Dwalin's bald head and Nori's bountiful hair, even Dwalin was starting to get a little drunk. Nori, substantially smaller and not that heavy of a drinker for a Dwarf (it dulled the senses and made reflexes slow, two things that a thief couldn't afford), had begun surreptitiously dumping out the majority of her ales fairly early in the evening.

This left her in the position of being able to observe the rest of the party with an eye to collecting gossip or blackmail material. Unsurprisingly, Fili and Ingrith were eye-fucking each other while exchanging sniping comments in what sounded like a long-running argument. She suspected that they would sneak off to find a convenient dark corner any minute now. Kili had switched chairs--or perhaps just picked up and carried his original chair--in order to sit next to Tauriel. Their heads were bent together and Kili was talking with his hands while Tauriel smiled at him, looking positively smitten. 

Nori had to laugh as she noticed that Gloin and Kolfina's son Gimli, a mere boy of thirty-eight, was staring at Legolas in utter fascination while the Elf looked increasingly discomfited by the attention.

At the far end of the table, Ori and Bell had their heads bent together, discussing something very intensely. Nori was curious about what it was that had them so absorbed, but she was feeling too comfortable where she was, with Dwalin's arm around her shoulders, to feel motivated enough to get up and snoop.

That of course was when the shouts for dancing began. Nori jumped to her feet, hauling at Dwalin's good arm to get him moving. "Do I have to?" he whined.

"Yes, you do. Come on, you've only danced with me as Lady Nezhka. You wouldn't want me to get jealous of myself, would you?"

Dwalin shook his head. "That doesn't even make any sense."

"Shut it, husband," Nori purred, giving him a look that she knew never failed to get him going. "Come dance with me."

The dancing was mainly the traditional jigs, but Nori talked Dwalin into dancing one of the new round dances with her before he retreated to the head table again to drink and smoke with Dis and Balin.

"Mistress Knives!" Bofur bowed deeply to her, almost overbalancing. His nose was flushed red and his floppy hat askew. "Would you do me the honor of this dance?"

"Of course." Nori joined hands with him and they galloped around the dancefloor, laughing as they barely avoided running into the other couples. Technically this was supposed to be a round dance, with the dance partners all stepping around in a carefully established circular pattern. Bofur and Nori ducked in and out of the pattern, gleefully spreading confusion and chaos behind them.

The song came to an end and they bowed elaborately to one another. Bofur straightened his hat and offered her a drink from his flask. "Our lady of the blades, getting married to a noble. Can't entirely believe it and I was there for the ceremony!"

Taking a careful sip from the flask, Nori shuddered at the taste. Pure miner's spirits, distilled from Mahal only knew what. "I know, I know. But what can I say," she grinned. "I like a man who carries a big hammer and knows how to wield it."

Bofur doubled over with laughter. "More than I ever wanted to know about Dwalin's hammer, I'll tell you that much for free," he finally wheezed, leaning over with his hands on his knees.

Nori snickered. "Be glad I'm not telling you any real details. Your innocent ears would catch on fire."

"Ah, there's nothing innocent about any part of me, if you catch my meaning," Bofur winked. "But enough of that. I just wanted to give you my best wishes in person. Been a long time since we were both wet-behind-the-ears troublemakers in Ered Luin."

"I was a troublemaker," she scoffed. "You were a good, hard-working young lad."

"Aye, and you cured me of that right quick!"

Laughing, they hugged for a few minutes and then parted. Bofur knocked foreheads with her, saying, "I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your wedding feast, then. Just don't forget your old friends when you're dining with Kings and the like."

"Bofur, you were sitting at the same table as the King tonight. You're a member of the Company, not some no-name miner."

"Be that as it may. Just be sure not to forget the little people," he shrugged. Bofur's eyes brightened as he saw someone over Nori's shoulder. "And I hate to run but Eurwen is standing right over there and I haven't seen her in months. Blessings of Mahal on you and your family," he said before hurrying off.

Chuckling, Nori watched Bofur sweep the Hobbit woman into his arms. Eurwen squeaked and turned red enough that it was apparent even through her dark complexion. She seemed pleased enough though, based on the passionate kiss she gave Bofur after briefly scolding him. Nori wasn't entirely sure whether Bofur and Eurwen were actually a couple now or simply enjoyed each other's company whenever she visited Dracadelf. She made a note to herself to grill Bombur for information whenever she had a chance. 

She had managed to dump out most of her ale over the course of the evening, but Nori was still feeling rather warm-cheeked and cheerful by the time she ran into her little sister on the way back from the privies. "Ori, my _mizimith_!"

Ori looked a lot less cheerful than usual. Nori hugged her around the shoulders and steered her towards a quiet hallway where they could talk without being overheard. "Tell your big sister what's wrong."

"Oh, Dori just had your new bed delivered. It's really pretty," Ori said, faking a smile.

Even as well-preserved as Dracadelf had been, after two thousand years of neglect the city had needed a lot of work to be made habitable. As busy as they both were, Nori and Dwalin hadn't gotten the chance to get their house set up until just a few months ago, and sleeping there was more like camping than anything else. 

Dori had taken on the state of Nori and Dwalin's house with her usual overwhelming efficiency once she had realized that they were still sleeping on bedrolls in their own house. Furnishings had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Dori had found them a bed that she considered "passable" to use in the interim, but she had ordered one made for them to be delivered to their house on the day of the wedding ceremony.

Dori, being Dori, had fussed about it of course. "I know it's improper, giving the new couple a gift as though they can't provide for each other. But if I leave it to the two of you, you'll be sleeping on bedrolls until you're old and grey!" Nori had managed to convince her that it counted as a traditional gift from the new in-laws to Dwalin to welcome him into the family, so it was all perfectly proper.

"So? What's wrong, _namadith_?"

"It's just... it's stupid, I know. But I feel like my gift isn't anything compared to Dori's. What are some scarves compared to a bed?"

"Ori, it's just a bed."

She looked dubious. "You haven't seen it yet. It's a _really nice_ bed."

"Listen to me. It's not about the price of the gift, it's about the meaning. Dwalin has never had sisters before. And he's never had a younger sibling either. Dwalin loves the scarf you made him. He wouldn't take it off the first night you gave them to us."

"Oh. I didn't... I didn't think about it that way." Blushing, Ori tried to hide that her eyes were a little wet. 

Nori took pity on her and didn't tease her about it, but grilling Ori about what was going on with her and Bell was another story. "So, what were you and Bell discussing so intently earlier?" she asked as they began walking back into the feast hall.

Ori bounced excitedly. "Bell is going to learn Khuzdul."

Stopping just inside the feast hall doors, Nori stared at her. "Ori, you know I'm not one for rules, but even I know that that is forbidden. Non-Dwarves can't learn Khuzdul."

"I found precedent. In the First Age, the Dwarves of Nogrod taught Khuzdul to an Elven smith. And if there is precedent, then the law scribes have to consider it. The only problem is..."

"What?" Nori crossed her arms and gave her little sister a skeptical look.

"The Elf was taught Khuzdul when he was adopted into the Firebeard clan. So the law scribes will probably rule that Bell has to be adopted by a Dwarven family first."

Nori nodded slowly. "I see. It probably shouldn't be our family, because that could complicate matters when the two of you eventually get married." She glanced across the feast hall and immediately saw the answer. "Ask Bifur."

"Bifur?" Ori followed her gaze to what Nori had noticed: Bofur telling a story to Bell as Bifur occasionally interjected comments in Iglishmek. Bell was laughing as Bifur told his cousin off in emphatic Iglishmek, probably for mistranslating what he'd said into Westron.

"Yes. Bofur, Bifur, and Bombur all adore Bell. I'm surprised they haven't already tried to adopt her. You'll need to officially ask Bifur because he's the family patriarch. But I can't imagine he'd refuse."

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Ori hugged her hard and then hurried away towards Bell. Nori watched her go with a smile.

"Meddling again, my jewel?"

Grinning, Nori turned to see Grimr approaching her. "Old man! I see my sister is allowing you to roam about freely. Causing trouble?"

"Always," Grimr said, tapping the side of his nose. "Well, my dear, you seem very happy indeed."

"I guess I am." Nori shrugged dismissively, trying (and she suspected failing) to hide her smile. "It's so strange to think that a little over a year ago, we were scrabbling to make ends meet in Ered Luin. And now we're here, sitting at the same table as royalty."

"Nori, I never doubted for a second that you were destined to accomplish great things."

"Really? Even when I was a street rat with barely a stolen copper piece to my name?"

"Even then. My dear, I can see beyond the physical world. And what I saw in you was a fire that could not be quenched."

There were days when Nori still had trouble believing that Grimr was actually a Wizard, not a clever charlatan. But then there were times like this, when he sounded strangely otherworldly, that she found herself really believing. "What do your eyes see now?" she asked.

Grimr's bright blue eyes seemed to stare into nothingness. His voice sounded hollow as he said, "I see that choices made long ago continue to echo down through the millennia. A foolish choice made by a young, arrogant Elven Prince playing at war. A chance meeting between a future King and a dragon, and a love that survived death, madness, and two thousand years of isolation." His eyes focused on Nori and he smiled. "And a clever young Dwarven thief who happened to choose a Wizard when she decided to recruit a partner in crime. All of these things have changed our future from what it might have been."

"I can see how everything that happened with the Prince becoming a dragon and falling in love with King Hrathi could have changed the future of our world, but..." Nori shook her head. "How could the two of us becoming partners have changed anything important? I'm just a thief. Everything you've done, you would have done with or without me."

"Oh, my dear. You are so much more than just a thief. One day perhaps you will understand that."

Nori raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Really. So what do you see in our future now?"

For a second she thought his eyes flickered to the northeast, his face growing old and shadowed, but then it was gone and it was just Grimr, laughing at her with eyes full of mischief. "I see... cakes and tarts," he said. 

At that moment, Bombur led a procession of assistant cooks carrying huge platters piled with desserts into the hall. "Oh, is _that_ what Bombur had all of his cooks hiding from me?" 

"In fact I believe Bombur may have made your favorite. Based on the fact that he asked me what it is."

Nori's eyes widened. "Elderflower and cheese tart?" He nodded, eyes twinkling. "Excuse me, I need to go claim all the elderflower and cheese tarts for _me_ before anyone else gets their hands on them." Grimr's laughter followed her into the feast hall.

In the confusion of dessert being dished up and more toasts being given, Nori forgot all about the strange expression in Grimr's eyes as he looked to the northeast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dessert Nori refers to is Sambocade, a medieval tart that is essentially elderflower and rosewater-flavored cheesecake. I've never had it but it sounds delicious.


	4. Chapter 4

To the happy cheering of the entire crowd, Nori led Dwalin by the hand out of the feast hall. 

It was traditional that the newly married couple would leave at some point before the feast wound down to get some private time. It was also traditional that they could be delayed by friends and family offering them congratulations after they left the feast hall. A common prank pulled on newly married couples was to delay them endlessly with long-winded congratulations while all they wanted to do was get some privacy to fuck.

Dwalin was absolutely sure that was what the younger members of the Company had planned, which was why he was completely unsurprised when Nori yelled, "Run for it! Go! Go!" as soon as they exited the hall.

They were both panting and laughing breathlessly by the time they slowed down, several winding corridors and staircases away from the feast hall. 

"Think we lost them?" Dwalin panted, leaning forward with his hands on his knees.

"Absolutely. I bribed Bofur to create a distraction as soon as we cleared the doors."

"What did he do?"

Nori shrugged. "Not really sure. But whatever it was, it seems to have worked."

"My sneaky, clever thief," Dwalin said, straightening up so that he could give her a proper kiss.

"My honorable, brave warrior." She kissed him quickly and then ducked away, laughing. "We'll have plenty of time to have sex up against an alley wall later! There's a big bed waiting to get broken in."

A few minutes of walking later, Nori and Dwalin let themselves into their little house in a quiet neighborhood of Dracadelf. Nori flopped down on a pile of brightly colored cushions in the front room with a sigh.

"We're really married," Dwalin said. He still couldn't quite believe it.

She rolled her head to the side and grinned at him. "Witnessed by the King himself. That's about as official as it gets."

Dwalin stood by the door, unsure what to do with his hands and finally just crossing them across his chest. There was a question burning a hole in Dwalin's heart that he had felt the need to ask ever since he saw Bofur and Nori dancing and laughing together. He'd meant never to say anything at all--Nori was Nori, and he loved her and would never ask her to change. But still he had to ask one thing, or else he would forever regret it. 

"Lass, I won't ask you for monogamy if you're not comfortable promising it. But I will ask--no, beg--that if you have sex with anyone else you make sure that I never hear about it. Please."

He wasn't sure what response he had expected--anger, annoyance, calm bargaining, perhaps?--but it definitely hadn't been for Nori to simply shrug, still lying on the pillows, and say, "I can promise it now."

"What?" Dwalin's arms dropped to his sides. "You said you couldn't promise monogamy before. What changed?"

"Oh." Nori sat up, looking surprised. "You didn't understand what I meant before. Dwalin, I couldn't promise you monogamy before because I'd never tried it and didn't know for sure that I could do it."

"I don't understand," he said, scowling. "Nothing you just said makes any sense to me."

"Dwalin..." She stood up and paced several steps away then turned to face him, her hands spread out. "I'm a thief, a charlatan, a grifter. I lie to people for a living. But I only lie to marks. I don't lie to real people--to people I care about. And I don't make promises to them that I can't keep."

The part where people she didn't care about weren't "real people" was always a little jarring, but it was something Dwalin had come to terms with. The people Nori cared about, she cared about deeply. Everyone else was just there to be used. 

He shook his head. "And I do appreciate that you never lie to me, but I still don't understand."

"What's so hard to understand? I didn't know if I could be monogamous, so I tried it out. And it's not that hard." She smiled at him cheerfully.

"You tried it out?" One of these days, Dwalin might really understand what went on in Nori's head. But probably not. "You've spent the last eight months "trying out" monogamy?"

"Yep! Well, really more like a year. I never touched Kili, you know that." She sounded a little annoyed.

"No, I do know that, I'm not questioning that." Dwalin paused a moment, feeling like he was about to cut his own foot off, then said, "Nori, are you sure? I won't ask it of you if it's not something that you want. I just need to never know about--"

"Dwalin. Stop being so stupidly self-sacrificing." She walked up to him, catching his hands in hers and looking him straight in the eye. "It's not a sacrifice. And really, I've got you at my side and in my bed. I don't want anyone else as much as I want you."

"All right," he said, feeling himself start to smile at her dopily.

"Now," she said with a lingering up-and-down look at him. "Weren't we on our way to bed?"

"Indeed we were," he said, deliberately pitching his voice low in a way he knew made her shiver. "I believe there's a large bed in the next room in fact."

"I believe you're right. So why don't you carry me over there?"

Dwalin braced himself, not even shifting as he suddenly ended up with an armful of Nori. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, grinning up at him. "Fuck me hard, _my husband_." 

Dwalin had been meaning to take it slow, planning on making the most of their very large bed. But those words, said in that tone of voice, with his marriage braid in her hair and her marriage bead tapping distractingly just behind his right ear...

Nori braced herself, laughing, as he barrelled through the door of the bedroom, feverishly kissing her face everywhere he could reach and then backing up into the bed and letting himself fall backwards onto it. She rode him down onto the bed like a pony, landing with her knees on either side of his hips and her hands braced on his shoulders as she leaned over him.

"My wife," he gasped, leaning up desperately to give her a devouring, hungry kiss.

She kissed him back for a few minutes, her fingers combing through his beard, and then sat up, looking around them. "Mahal's mighty bollocks. Dwalin, did you _see_ this bed?"

"I'm more interested in who is in it," Dwalin grumbled. He sighed and followed Nori's gaze to the headboard. His eyes widened. The whole frame of the bed was solid quartz, intricately carved with Dwarven knotwork.

"This is amazing," Nori breathed. She climbed off him to examine the headboard more closely. "Look, there's a badger hidden in the knotwork--and there's a fox! This is a masterwork. I wonder where the maker's mark is."

Dwalin resisted the urge to pout but couldn't help sighing. She climbed back into his lap, kissing him quickly. "Sorry. That can wait until after we break the bed in. Let me give you a hand with your jerkin and then you can do mine."

Nori had deliberately phrased it that way so that he wouldn't be embarrassed to need help taking off his weapons harness and jerkin. The expression on his face said that he knew she was doing it to spare his feelings and that he was silently grateful for it. She unfastened his weapons belt and laid it safely to the side on a low table by the bed. Then she unbuckled his jerkin, enjoying the feel of the thick muscles of his sides jumping under her hands.

"Are you deliberately tickling me?" he asked, glowering.

"Of course." She pulled his jerkin off and laid it aside, followed by the linen shirt he wore under it. "Do me?"

"Any time."

Nori could unbuckle her jerkin in a third of the time it took Dwalin, but she enjoyed the hot look in his eyes as he slid the leather straps free. When he freed the last buckle, Nori stripped the jerkin off with her linen shirt in the same move, leaving her clad only in her trousers and boots. Not to mention, of course, her forearm-mounted dagger sheaths and the two beautiful daggers attached to her weapons belt that had been her wedding gift from Dwalin.

"You are so beautiful," he breathed, cupping a hand on the smooth skin of her side as she twisted to lay aside the jerkin and shirt. 

Actually, she thought, she was short and skinny and her whiskers were sadly sparse, but one thing she had learned from running scams was that the most important thing about looking beautiful was whether you felt beautiful. 

In that moment, she felt like the First Mother standing by the shores of Kheled-zâram, based on the frankly worshipful look on Dwalin's face as he traced blunt fingers down the line of her neck and sternum, sliding his hand to the side to palm her breast. He brought his right arm up and Nori gently pushed it down, guiding his hand to rest on her waist where it wouldn't strain his bad shoulder to hold his arm up.

"You sure you want a battered old warrior like me?" he asked, glancing ruefully down at the thick scarring covering his right shoulder and upper chest.

"I am absolutely," Nori kissed one of the knotted scars where the Warg's teeth had pierced flesh and bone, "positively," she kissed a ragged scar where the Warg's teeth had torn flesh as it wrenched him around, "beyond all doubt," she kissed a straight scar where Lady Dis had cut open his flesh to set the splintered bone beneath, "completely sure. You're mine." She smiled down at him, raising one eyebrow. "So stop doubting me, or I'm going to think you don't trust me to always tell you the truth."

"I trust you, Nori," he said, resting his hand on her chest above her heart. "I trust you with my life and my heart."

"As do I." She leaned forward and nuzzled his ragged ear, breathing into it, "I believe a promise was made about fucking me into the mattress of our big new bed... husband."

"Mahal knows, I wish that I could, but I can't support my weight on both arms yet." He sounded resigned--like he still, despite her words, believed that eventually she would tire of dealing with his injuries.

Nori bit his earlobe sharply. "None of that doubting that I want you wargshit. You're still the sexiest Dwarf I've ever seen, and the scars just make you more sexy. As for fucking me through the mattress, there's other ways to do that than making the beast with two backs, as you very well know. Think your shoulder is up to fucking me over the edge of the bed?" They'd mostly been fucking with her on top since Dwalin had finally recovered enough from his injuries to be interested in sex again.

Dwalin's eyes darkened with lust. "Aye, I think so... but first I want to make you come on my tongue." 

"You definitely have your priorities right," she said, sliding off the bed so that she could take her boots and trousers off.

"Leave the weapons belt on," Dwalin said, sliding off the bed a good deal less gracefully.

She raised her eyebrows at him, amused, and unbuckled the straps that ran around her thighs so that she could take her trousers off without removing the belt. Then she braced a foot on the bed, making sure to angle her body to give him a good view, and slowly re-buckled the strap around her bare thigh. She repeated the process with her other thigh, pausing to watch as Dwalin tore his boots and trousers off and threw them across the room. Her leg was still braced on the bed when he dropped to his knees in front of her.

He kissed a line along the leather strap and then paused, asking, "Out of curiosity, how many knives were you carrying on our wedding day?"

"Only six. I figured it was safe to leave a couple off, just for today. And by a couple I mean four."

She felt him smile against her inner thigh. "Thief," he said affectionately. 

"Guardsman," she teased in return.

"That's _Captain_ of the Guard."

"Going to arrest me, Captain?" She smirked as she noted his ears turning pink. Oh, they'd have to play out that scenario later.

"Mmmm, this is what I've been hungry for since the Waters of Reforging," he said, taking a deep breath before parting her lower lips to lick a slick path to her pearl.

"You were thinking about sucking on my pearl in front of the entire Company?" Nori asked, deliberately misinterpreting."A bit too public for my tastes. But you know what I used to think about on the road? I used to imagine fucking you late at night in your bedroll, when everyone's asleep except whoever is stuck with the dog's watch."

Dwalin groaned and his tongue speared up into her cunt. His good hand flexed on her asscheek, not quite squeezing hard enough to bruise. Pity, that.

"Oh, you like that, don't you?" She ground down into his tongue. "I'd--oh--I'd crawl into your bedroll and we'd roll onto our sides, facing away from everyone, and then you'd slide your big cock into my cunt and--ah!--and fuck me while we're both trying to keep quiet enough that no one notices what we're doing."

He growled and shifted his hand around so that his thumb was just brushing against the lips of her cunt.

"We'd fuck so--so slow that-- _Mahal_ \--it's almost torture, but it feels so..." her voice broke as he fucked into her cunt with his thumb while sucking hard on her pearl. 

Nori's head dropped back and her eyes closed. Biting her lip, she felt the tension gathering in her lower belly, building and building until the tension peaked. She came, moaning and riding his tongue and thumb as the waves pulsed through her. 

Dwalin licked her pearl again lightly as he felt the ripples of her peak begin to die away. She shivered, making a low noise and shifting her hips as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to press closer or pull away.

He slid his thumb out slowly. Raising it to his mouth, he slowly sucked off the glistening evidence of her pleasure, meeting her eyes as he did so.

"You look so smug," Nori said, her voice husky as she looked down at him with heavy-lidded eyes. He shrugged at her and she laughed, sliding down his body until she once again sat straddling his lap. "It's not a bad look on you, my treasure of treasures. Not at all."

They shared a kiss flavored with her musky taste. His breath caught as she squirmed, rubbing the slick folds of her cunt against his hard cock, and he thrust upward involuntarily. She rode out the thrust, smiling smugly at him. "Eager?"

"I'm going to fuck you so hard that you feel it for a week."

Her eyes darkened as she ground her cunt against his cock. "Don't make wagers with your mouth that your hammer can't pay off."

"Oh, I'll pay it off with interest, lass. You know I'm a Dwarf of my word."

She slid to her feet lithely. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "Pay up, then, if that big hammer of yours is up the task."

"Oh, it's up to it," he said as he climbed to his feet. Crossing his arms over his chest, he ordered, "Put your hands on the side of the bed and spread your legs."

She raised ginger-colored eyebrows at him. "Getting awfully bossy there, aren't you?" Nevertheless, she placed her hands on the side of the bed and spread her legs a bit.

"Lean over further and spread your legs a little more. Like that." Dwalin stepped up between her spread legs and bent over, wrapping his arm around her waist and burying his nose in the nape of her neck. He felt like he could get drunk on her scent of baking bread and cinnamon and sex.

"Are you sniffing me again?" she asked. "Daft badger."

"Your badger." He bit the back of her neck, hearing and feeling her moan, her head dropping further forward. Her hair, divided as it was into three heavy braids, slid to the side, revealing pale, freckled shoulders. Scattered across her back were faded white scars that told tales of old battles.

"Mine," she said, gasping.

Dwalin bit down harder, enjoying the long, low moan that drew from Nori, and then let go and licked the red marks left by his teeth.

"You ever going to get around to that hard fucking you've been promising me, or are you all talk?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Impatient." He shifted his hips, rubbing his cock against the small of her back and using his thumb to spread the slick trail of pre-come over her skin.

"You're bloody right I am." She turned her head and grinned at him over her shoulder. "And you're a tease."

He leaned forward to give her a kiss and the movement dragged his cock over the skin of her back. Groaning, Dwalin admitted, "That's all the teasing I can manage, because _Mahal's hammer_ , Nori, I want to be inside you now."

She shivered, her head dropping forward between her braced arms. "Then fuck me."

For all the eagerness of their words, Dwalin was still careful to enter her carefully, so slowly that it was almost unbearable, waiting for the soft sounds and subtle shifts that indicated that she was ready for more. Her cunt was unbelievably tight, hot and wet, and he was panting and biting his lip practically bloody against the urge to thrust by the time that he bottomed out. He held position, waiting for her to signal that it was all right to move.

The tightness eased a little and she said in a husky voice, "Come on, do it. Fuck me."

He started out slow, gentle rolling of his hips, just barely sliding in and out. She got impatient first, demanding _harder and faster_ and he obeyed. After a while they both started to lose control, Dwalin fucking her so hard that she was bracing herself with her elbows on the bed to avoid sliding across the bed, her toes having long since lost purchase with the ground. The room echoed with the sound of their bodies slapping together.

Nori was swearing increasingly foul oaths to Mahal's hammer, groaning with every stroke and still gasping, "Harder!" Dwalin had a moment of blinding realization of exactly how much he loved her as they both tipped over the edge into orgasm.

Panting, he collapsed onto his elbows, trying not to crush her underneath him.

Nori stretched like a cat and said in an incredibly satisfied-sounding tone, "I love you too."

Dwalin chuckled helplessly, dropping his forehead onto her shoulder.

Eventually they slid apart and Nori climbed onto the bed, lying down and beckoning Dwalin to join her. He lay down on his back and she promptly rolled on her side to rest her head on his good shoulder as she wrapped her arm over his chest.

Dwalin tangled his fingers in the long red strands that had escaped from her braids, idly musing, "I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I hadn't tried to arrest you that day in the market. Do you think we would have ended up together still?"

She combed her fingers through the grey curls on his chest as she spoke. "I was thinking about that earlier. If you hadn't chased me that day, if I hadn't bound you to me as Lady Nezkha... I think we still would have found each other eventually. If nothing else, I was a thief and you were a guardsman--eventually you would have chased me until I caught you."

"Aye, true enough," he chuckled. Lifting her hand to his mouth, he kissed her palm and said, "I would always have found you, lass."

Her eyes brightened with tears that she would never admit to as she leaned up to kiss him, a gentle, slow brush of lips. Lacing their fingers together, she laid her head on his shoulder again. 

Holding each other close, they drifted into sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on tumblr at http://garafthel.tumblr.com.


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